The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of geranium, botanically known as Pelargonium peltatum Bailey, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Free Cherry Rosexe2x80x99. The new cultivar is propagated from a seedling resulting from the cross of a seed parent 6342-2 and the pollen parent 5900-1, both unpatented.
xe2x80x98Free Cherry Rosexe2x80x99 is a product of a planned breeding program intended to create new geranium cultivars with magenta colored flowers, double flower form, and superior cutting productivity.
The new cultivar was created in 1996 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been repeatedly asexually reproduced by cuttings in Gilroy, Calif. and Guatemala over a four year period. It has also been trialed at Okemos, Mich. It has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations; and this novelty appears to be firmly fixed.